By Joseph Murray
For the 29th consecutive year, UPS officials met with faculty members and students Wednesday morning to donate funds to the Multicultural Student Center to provide scholarships for Native American students.
The first donation made in 1976 amounted to $5,000. UPS has donated $50,000 per year for the last 10 years and with this year?s donation the collective endowment exceeds the $1 million mark.
?Since 1976, UPS has been as faithful at donating to our university as they have been at delivering packages,? said BYU Vice President, Fred Skousen.
Eleven of the 14 BYU Native American students on scholarship along with faculty advisors met in front of a sea of UPS employees and company representatives in the Orem UPS distribution warehouse to receive the donation.
The students briefly told employees the impact UPS donations were having towards advancing their education.
?It really brings it home to hear the students tell their career goals and plans for the future,? said the Orem UPS center manager, Carl Berntson. ?I am proud of our participation because it helps not only the students, but also the communities and reservations they come from.?
David Black, the corporate relations director of fund raising at BYU said the previous donations received over the last 28 years had contributed to over 450 student scholarships.
?These scholarships allow students to have an opportunity to make a difference,? Black said. ?The students are already committed to develop themselves, but the funding provides an avenue for the them to stay with it.?
UPS Workforce planning director, Steve Goodrich, who has been working closely together with BYU to coordinate the UPS donation efforts, said UPS is very careful about the money they spend and the purposes they contribute to.
Goodrich has been to BYU on a number of occasions over the last 10 years and said he has been impressed with the quality of students who attend the university.
?When you look at the students here, you get a feel for their goals and it is very satisfying for us to see how we support them,? Goodrich said. ?I am proud of UPS everyday but on days like today I am most proud of what we do.?
LaVay Talk, UPS scholarship coordinator in the Multicultural Student Center said the funds allow students the opportunity to excel in the classroom. She said most of the students who qualify for the scholarship have set goals and are very adamant about the direction they want to go.
?We try to find those students who fit into the UPS description of what the endowment is for,? Talk said. ?We want to fit the needs of our students and the organization.?
This year, 14 students are on UPS scholarship. The students were able to see the people who have had a hand in their success and were quite touched, Talk said.
?It has been a huge blessing,? said Jill Cox, a senior on UPS scholarship, majoring in mechanical engineering from Springdale, Utah. ?I feel an even greater responsibility to do well and it has raised my awareness of how much work I need to put into my education.?
Cherisse Marks, a sophomore majoring in elementary education, from North Ogden, Utah, said she would have a difficult time attending school if it wasn?t for the scholarship.
?I would have to work full time to put myself through school and that would definitely impact my education negatively,? she said.
Mateo Johnson, a junior majoring in psychology from Blanding, Utah said the funds help him to focus his time and energy on getting the grades he needs to get into law school.
?It makes me want to work even harder to achieve my goals and my dreams,? Johnson said. ?It has impacted me now and will impact my future. Hopefully, I will be able to return this kind of opportunity to others.?
Black said in some way or another that all of the students attending BYU are the recipients of scholarship support through tuition funding, and added BYU is the type of university that is here to support the students.
?We just work to bring people together in support of a great cause and it is great to be a part of that,? he said. ?It is always neat to see companies take an interest in people. We are all here to support the students.?